Dissecting Filmmaking: Common Mistakes with Audio | MotionElements

A film’s perfect ratio is at 50% video, 50% audio. After all, watching a movie goes beyond seeing clips of stock footage, panoramas, and time lapses – it’s a complete package involving listening to sound beds and dialogues. This just means that you have to focus on audio as much as you try to improve the visual aspects of your film. How do you do that? You can start by avoiding these common mistakes:

Mistake #1: Overreliance on Dubbing

Additional dialogue recording (ADR) is something filmmakers turn to when they need to insert an extra line or two in a scene, but overreliance on this technique is a mistake. There is just no way for an actor to redo their dialogue for a particular scene with the same emotion and cadence inside a recording studio. It is always better to record all important dialogue while on location.

Mistake #2: Overprocessing Audio

Surprisingly, many are guilty of overprocessing all their audio tracks while layering them onto the workflow. Doing so removes environmental sounds and ambient noises that make the film sound real. Whatever project you’re working on, know that each location has its own sound profiles that create an authentic vibe.

In the event that you have irreversibly overdone the cleaning of your audio track, there is still a fix for this problem. Record the environmental sounds of an area for 10-30 seconds, put it on loop, and layer it properly on the film’s soundscape alongside the primary audio track and sound bed.

Mistake #3: Absence of Music

The background music dictates the mood of a particular sequence; the absence of it is a mortal sin in any production. Amateurs often experiment with different styles, sometimes to the point of removing music in the film. While a sequence can stand on its own sans the music, a sound bed amplifies the emotional impact of your video.

Speaking of sound beds, MotionElements can help you if you’re in need of good royalty-free audio. We have recently launched our very own music channel, which is home to hundreds of royalty-free tracks you can use for your next film project. Contact us today and let us help you tell a brilliant story through a compelling film.